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PhD students get career ready

La Trobe University is once again partnering with some of Australia’s top industry leaders to further expand its engagement opportunities for PhD students to make them career ready.

La Trobe’s College of Arts, Social Sciences and Commerce (ASSC) has worked with leading partners in the private sector as well as the Victorian Government, local councils and Non-Government Organisations to expand the University’s PhD industry mentoring into the arts, business, humanities and social sciences areas.

The program follows on from the successful mentoring program that La Trobe’s College of Science, Health and Engineering (SHE) set up in 2015.

Professor Keith Nugent, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) at La Trobe University said that the industry engagement gave ASSC students an opportunity to understand relevant sector needs and establish industry networks.

“We are very pleased to see our industry mentoring program grow and expand into areas that traditionally haven’t been captured by “industry” engagement activities,” Professor Nugent said. “La Trobe understands industry in the broadest sense.”

“Students are able to acquire an understanding of how the relevant industry operates as well as develop skills required to work within and to collaborate with stakeholders.”

“The mentors and students taking part in the program are an excellent example of the variety and width of the sectors La Trobe engages with.”

Students participate in the program for approximately twelve months with the same industry mentor who will guide them along the way.

Fazeela Ibrahim is currently completing her PhD on International Doctoral Students and was matched to a mentor within the education sector as part of the PhD Industry Mentoring program in ASSC that commenced on 1 February 2017.

“It was exciting to find out that I had a lot in common with my mentor, such as being a teacher, researcher, and facilitator in adult education,” she said.

“A strong mentorship can provide an advantage for any professional at any career level and I felt that participating in this program and getting a good mentor would help me get an insight into the education industry.”

“Having insider access can be quite valuable and a way of achieving this is to find a great mentor, make connections, and then listen and learn from them.”

La Trobe University currently offers three streams of industry engagement opportunities for research students: